Madeline Atwood’s Reviews > How Not to Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease > Status Update

“The hormone content in milk may explain why women who drink it appear to have five times the rate of twin births compared to women who do not drink milk. When it comes to cancer, though, the greatest concern may come from growth hormones.”

“Most tragically, antidepressants may make people more likely to become depressed in the future. Studies show that patients are more likely to become depressed again after treatments with antidepressants than after treatment with other means, including placebos.”

“Antidepressants are currently prescribed to more than 8% of the population. Just because antidepressant drugs may not work better than fake pills doesn’t mean they don’t work at all. They offer substantial benefits to millions of people suffering from depression & although placebo effect is real & powerful, antidepressants do seem to beat out sugar pills in most severely depressed (10% patients)” 90% hmm

Even worse, the FOIA docs revealed that the FDA knew that these drugs, such as Paxil and Prozac, didn’t work much better than placebo, yet made an explicit decision to shield drug companies by keeping this info from the public/prescribing physicians. How could they get away with this? pharmaceutical industry is one of most profitable/politically powerful in USA + mental illness is a golden goose (chronic/common)

2/2 did not work after all. When all data, published & unpublished, were combined, antidepressants failed to show a clinically significant advantage over placebo sugar pills. This finding suggests the placebo effect explains the apparent clinical effectiveness of antidepressants. Patient belief in power of drug was most powerful aspect of antidepressants

1/2 Depression psych meds:
Researchers applied to the U.S. FDA under FOIA to get access to published & unpublished studies submitted by pharmaceutical companies and what they found was shocking; according to published literature, the results of nearly all antidepressant trials were positive. In contrast, FDA analysis of trial data, inc. unpublished studies, demonstrated that roughly 1/2 the trials showed the drugs

Contemporary longitudinal studies suggest that low dietary folate intake may increase the risk of severe depression by as much as 3x.

- supplements did not help

- only dietary folate, like antioxidant rich tomatoes and folate packed greens, lowered depression risks

“Higher consumption of vegetables may cut the odds of developing depression by as much as 62%. A review in the journal of Nutritional NeuroScience concluded that, in general, eating lots of fruits and vegetables may present a non-invasive, natural, and inexpensive therapeutic means to support a healthy brain.”

“Researchers suggest that AA may impair the body’s emotions state. People with higher levels of arachidonic acid in their blood may end up with significantly higher risk of suicide and episodes of major depression.”

- chicken, eggs, beef, pork, and fish: highest sources of AA in American diets

Arachidonic Acid: a polyunsaturated omega fatty acid with inflammatory properties

- found in highest concentrations in chicken and eggs
- found in high concentrations in beef, pork, sheep, other meats, etc.